Australian medical cannabis company Althea Group (ASX: AGH) has successfully exported their first shipment of medical cannabis to South Africa.
Althea has struck up a new partnership with the local South African cannabis company Africann. Africann is Althea’s exclusive partner, and operates as a licensed cannabis wholesaler that imports and distributes medical cannabis.
According to Althea, this is a “major achievement” for the company, as they now have an early-mover advantage in South Africa’s medical cannabis market. In the ASX release published by the company, CEO Joshua Fegan wrote:
We are excited to have exported our initial shipment of Althea products for South Africa. This development once again reflects our ambition and process in becoming the world’s leading supplier of cannabis-based medicines.
South Africa’s medical cannabis market is growing rapidly and is estimated to be worth roughly USD $667 million by 2023. South Africa’s market is fairly new, as the government legalised medical cannabis in 2017. Like in Australia, medical cannabis is only available to patients in exceptional circumstances who have a prescription from their Doctor.Â
South Africa is the second major market Althea has scored an early mover advantage in. Last year, the company became the first manufacturer to secure a license to sell medical cannabis in Germany. Althea is also expanding here in Australia, with a recent report showing their revenue grew by 175% in the first half of FY 2020/21. The company also entered Canada’s cannabis-infused beverage market and launched a low-cost line of medical cannabis samples earlier this year.
As a result of announcing their first successful shipment of medical cannabis to South Africa, shares in Althea rose to $0.34 on the 24th of June. That first shipment is now set for sale.Â
